Red Voodoo
by AkatsukiStalkers-RebelQueens
Summary: The Great healer... is on vacation. looks like the dying prince will have to settle for the little kid. authors: Neko Abby M for future Alexs scenes
1. Chapter 1

**Red Voodoo**

_Neither pair of men moved. The sick, weak, and shaking coughs coming from the room beyond the door gripped them so tight they would dare walk, and one of them was even shaking._

"_Tobi's scared, Brother…" the trembling one with an eye patch and a mask over his face nose-down whimpered. He held a fisted, black gloved hand to his face as if to bite his nails, only to remember the black cloth mask and put his hand back down. He shifted his weight, contemplating running into the room._

_The other man, a few inches taller and with an older appearance, stared at the door. How it pained him to hear his nephew's sickness, the retching cough that never stopped longer than a minute. The ghostly pale skin. Blood shot eyes and shaking body._

_He ran his hand through his long, spiky black bangs, which covered his face's left half. "They better get back soon…"_

"_Will Itachi-kun survive that long, Madara-kun?" asked Tobi anxiously, his one good eye fearful and full of sorrow in its bright red depth._

_Madara looked out the window, watching the departing black-and-red cloaked figures as they left the village's gates. The recently departed Dawn Nights, with his adopted son at the front. For Madara's sick Nephew's sake, they better be back fast enough. _

"_I can only hope so, Tobi." he murmured, shaking his head. _

With that, she stepped away from the black, soot covered cauldron. The visions in the green liquid muddled down into bubbles. With a laugh, she made her way down the wooden spiral stair case, undoing the braded blonde strands of her mid-back length hair. Honey-brown eyes looked to the left at their bottom steps, and organizing basement's collections was her young apprentice.

"Sakura." The blonde woman called.

A pink haired figure jumped to her feet, nearly dropping a half-jar of a purple powder and having to fumble to prevent it from shattering. "Tsunade-sensei!" she gasped, blinking bright emerald orbs.

Tsunade smiled at her protige, who had secretly become much more talented then herself a few weeks ago. The blonde woman had already told the pinkette she was leaving to travel south into the badlands for an exotic shop, so all she said was "I'm departing now. You sister Ino will be gone until I return. Good luck." And with Sakura's hug goodbye, she said nothing of the group of men on the way.

As the pinkette saw her off at the door, she blew a kiss. "_Good luck._" She repeated, allowing the ominous note to creep into her voice and grinning as Sakura's face became occupied with foreboding. Tsunade didn't repeat herself. She would need the luck.

…

…

…

After her Mentor's presence faded from her mental circle of outreach, which reached just beyond the swamp in which their place was set, Sakura stepped back inside. Tsunade-sama had always been one to never speak clearly- though she would cut your head off if you didn't get to the point if you were the one talking- so she couldn't tell just _how_ important the repeated sentence was.

There had been times where she had done something like this just to test her. Was that what was happening now? Or was she expecting her to get ready for some danger?

She shook her head. If danger was a possibility… she hurried down the spiral staircase of creaky wood, made of living wood carved from the red wood tree growing up where it stood. Making her way down the roots warped into stairs, she re-entered the basement. Moving through the last box of not yet un-loaded item containers of many colors.

She pulled out a glass jar about the size of her fist with a carefully painted plant on the top with a long, scientific name, and then in bold the simple, common name of **Deadly Nightshade**.

Scanning the purple, gluttonous mass of the extract, she sorted the box until she had five more containers, and stacked them into a pyramid mindlessly on a prep table. A deadly poison, and must be ingested to take effect.

She repeated the act with many herb extracts:

**Borage Leaves-** increases fertility, breast milk, and new-born's help.

**Burdock Root- **cures the strongest of infections and helps close wounds.

**Catmint-** soothing to inflammations.

**Chervil- **roots aregood with bellyache, and leaves keeping out infection.

**Cobweb-** provides a waxy substance that can seal a wound after drying or clot blood vessels if ingested.

**Coltsfoot- **steadies breathing and sooths lung problems.

**Comfrey-** good for healing bones and sprains or pulls.

**Dock- **sooths heal-refusing scratches and smaller wounds.

**Oak Leaf-** prevents infections.

**Feverfew-** stabilizes bodily temperature.

**Goldenrod-** good for encouraging cell growth and reproduction.

**Honey- **sooths the throat and covers taste, and sooths inflammation of low-rank irritation of the skin.

**Horsetail- **treats infected wounds, not particularly well with stronger infections.

**Juniper Berries- **sooths bellyache and slows digestion.

**Lavender-** lowers fever and sooths the restless to sleep.

**Marigold- **prevents but doesn't fight infection.

**Mouse Bile-** removes parasites and causes insomnia.

**Poppy Seed-** induces sleep and calms nerves; not recommended for pregnant women or young children.

**Stinging Nettle-** seed fights poison in the body, leaves lower swelling.

**Tansy-** cures coughing, but must be taken in small doses.

**Thyme- **calms anxiety and restless thoughts.

**Watermint- **sooths bellyache and re-hydrates.

**Wild Garlic-** good for fighting the worst of infections.

**Yarrow- **induces vomiting, causes dizziness.

**Yew Berries- **mildly poisonous.

**Boar Blood-** increases survival in blood loss at small rates.

**Fox Nails-** encourages bone strength.

**Milkweed-** induces sleep and improves fever.

**Lilac-** enhances muscle repair and soothes stressed tendons.

She took her natural resources, and pulled out a scroll. Wrapping the paper around the many stacks of her natural resources after putting away the giant box's contents, she uttered a few phrases under her breath. "Stretch and fold, melt and mingle, burn and seal." As the paper contracted and wrapped around the contents, until the mountain of jars was a small, 3-inch tall cube.

She scanned over it, and watched as a large 'N' appeared in dark green over the white parchment. "Natural" ingredients.

She began searching through vials on a tall shelf, hovering off the ground to reach the tops.

Phoenix Ash, Dragon Scale, Toad's breath, Fire's Burn, Mask of Riberis, Hymn of Sun Songs, Argon's Sparks, Whisker's tooth, Cape of burned Lead. A few other 'Mystic' ingredients. She repeated the seal.

She loaded her leather waist pockets (like Deidara's clay holders) with a few dried ingredients. Putting the heavy cubes into a pink bag, she paused. A large group of people were entering her swamp. So Tsunade's tip off was real. Good thing she had started to prepare.

Cursing allowed the very little time Tsunade had left her with; she hurried to a great tub in the center of the room. Dwelling buckets of water from an in-house well, she filled it with natural and mystic concoctions alike, before pulling off her red shirt and green shorts, and her under clothes, before settling into the bath.

They wouldn't reach the house for a few hours, be it horseback, or by foot, to soak and allow herself a few thorough protection spells. If they were actually coming for her home… she had a strong feeling they were.

The drizzle did not stop them. The Nights marched steadily onward through the marsh of the swamp. Skin protected from malaria-spreading mosquitoes by the metal armor under the black, red-cloud studded cloaks.

In the lead, was a ginger-haired man, and as they reached the thick of swamp, he brought the white, long-maned horse to a stop. With a grumble of annoyance, he had to back up as the horse jolted when its front sunk some.

"We must walk." He ordered, turning his head to watch the following men obey and dismount with layered grey-purple eyes. They gathered around their leader. "We'll split and fan out; it will give us better chances in finding the Witch Doctor's lair."

Everyone nodded in assent, breaking off into groups, the ginger with the piercings partnering himself with a blue haired woman, the only female of their group. The sets of two walked on, pulling their horses by the leather riding straps.

A particular man padded onward, his partner not here. The tallest of them all, with an odd appearance of blue skin and hair, his normal cohort was back in the kingdom; he was the whole reason they were out here. Having hidden his sickness for years, he suddenly passed out in training. It was then his condition became so horrible and fatal, that all the doctors of The Leaf Kingdom had failed. Many had denied even _looking_, fearful that if they failed they would be executed. The Kings had actually sentenced two to such fate, for demanding up-front payment and scoffing they were the best and could heal him, only to fail and have already spent the money.

The shark man wasn't extremely close with Prince Itachi, though they were old friends, and good friends. It was a horrid thought for Itachi to meet an end of such… disgrace, when Itachi was probably one of the smartest and best fighting nights in the country. He couldn't bear for a _sickness_ to steal the life of his ally.

The horse he was leading, a pale grey with dyed stripes of black in its tail and mane, reared up with a loud naying, its brown eyes wide. Kisame, the knight's name, pulled with a grunt of surprise, but the Horse ignored him, ambling forward awkwardly and dragging the shark man with him.

"Stupid horse!" he growled out angrily, unable to get any good leverage to pull with the muddy ground providing no traction when he tried to dig in his heals.

A few moments the length of heartbeats passed, and the horse came to an abrupt halt, and Kisame threw down the leather strap with a hiss of annoyance as he looked behind him at the trail. The mud was already oozing back over his tracks, washed away my water that pooled over it, and the brambles that had caught his cloak cover it up once more. "Well now were definitely lost." He muttered.

"I wouldn't say that." He jumped in shock, to see a figure standing in front of the horse. He hadn't realized until now that the horse had stopped because she had placed a hand on its snout, brushing dainty fingers over it. If it were a cat, the horse would be purring.

He took in the sight for a second, sizing up the new person. She was… small. Clean. Her hair was long and a stunning pastel pink that shinned despite the muggy light of the swamp. Simply, light green dress buttoned from the waist up, and tied around her mid section, matching her glowing, unnaturally sharp apply eyes. A brown hood hanging on her shoulders with the cape-part reaching her knees and only seeming to be attached to her by a thick thread around her collar bone since she didn't have her arms in her sleeves. And there was an unnatural, unnerving glow that was there, but not there, and despite her small and sweet appearance commanded respect and spoke of deadly power.

A small smile spread over thin, light pink lips on her porcelain pale face. "Do you need assistance, sir? Perhaps your horse back?" she said in something like a whisper, but yet loud enough for him to hear clearly. And the note of teasing mingled with suspicion.

"… yes, I would like my horse." He agreed gruffly. And as her hand left its face, it took a few steps back as if by silent command.

"Where are you headed, sir knight?" she asked, curiosity swimming in the tension-thick air. He could swear that a crack of thunder would come from the zaps of hostility between them both.

"…" he did not answer, simply staring her down. She met his gaze boldly, then to just get it over with, he answered, "I'm looking for a witch."

The pinkette turned around, and he would have left her to go if the horse didn't immediately stumble through the mud after her. So, with sucking foot step after footstep, he followed. Vaguely noting that the person's feet sunk no more than an inch, no more than a centimeter.

And she led them to a cabin, small, at the base of a hill. The wooden cabin looked only the size of one room, where the hill towered two stories and was connected to the cabin perfectly, windows dug into the grassy peak. Wind chimes hung on nearly all the branches within the trees circling the small clearing of marsh, a stream trickling by swirled with random rainbow bands of colors that turned 5 small, plate sized water wheels. Black flowers sprang up in the thick swamp grass, bearing a sickly sweet syrupy smell.

The pinkette stopped at the door, standing just to the side and facing him. "She lives here, sir knight." She said her whispery voice that he had nearly forgotten in the silent march, and could only barely here over the loud chiming of wind chimes.

He took a step toward the door, knocking once before she interrupted, "what are you doing? She will definitely not be there." He blinked when it sounded as if she were scolding him. "The Master of The Marsh is away on a journey to the great dessert."

"When will she be back?" he demanded, "and how do you know that?" he added, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. Maybe that was the witch disguised as a teenage girl?

"She will return at a predicted time of a month if fates allow so." She answered. She focused emerald green orbs on the blue knight. "And I know because she is my mother." She answered truthfully. Tsunade had adopted her a long time ago when she had been taken on as the apprentice.

However, Kisame almost did a liquid-less spit take, "what?"

She blinked slowly. "I am Lady Senju's daughter and Apprentice, Haruno." She repeated, using last names as a precaution. If the knight was here to arrest her mentor for some reason, then last names would be best.

Kisame looked at her for a long time. That explained her air of power, and confidence in talking to a knight alone in the dim setting sun's Twighlight in a forest- to even have the confidence to be IN this forest.

Just then she twitched, padding toward the door and brushing by him. As she opened the door, she glanced back to him. "follow." She said tightly, holding open the door and moving on into the house.

He almost wanted to decline, but the urgency in her voice made him follow, and the door was slammed and the clicking of the lock sounded behind him. The window shutters slammed closed, and he almost had enough time to process he was being trapped, when dim candle light of a floating candle stick was next to him, a second one beside Sakura who stood to his other side.

Opening his mouth to speak, he was interrupted by a loud snarling. Sakura narrowed her eyes padding silently up the stairs. He looked at the window, stepping over to it and opening it a slit.

In the dim, orange light of Twighlight sunset, his yellow eyes stretched wider than they had ever been. Without more than the single snarl, his horse lay dead on the ground. Dragging it through the muddy marsh, was a black, extremely sketchy creature. Its body fazed and its eyes were full of odd snow, and part of it would flash some the left and the rest wouldn't. (Flickering like on a TV and its eyes were like static TV.) This creature was beyond comprehension, and he watched it with such shock.

Then, in a sudden moment, its snow-speckled, fuzzy eyes were locked on him, and it let out another snarl, leaping at the window- only to crash, and fall to the ground. Something like a pink wave rippled out where it had crashed like a wall of water.

With a dissatisfied yowl, it went back to the horse and disappeared through the cypress trees. Then, to his astonishment, his Horse fazed back into view. Somewhere in the woods, an angry yowl split the air, and it was answered by another, followed by a much more distant one.

"Your friends are in trouble." The voice came in his ear, and he jumped as the window snapped closed. He turned to see Sakura wither candle still floating beside her. "A man of two colors and a boy in a mask are being hunted, unaware." She said simply. "We should go before they are eaten."

She said simply, padding out the door, and he followed on light feet to see the pinkette was leading the horse away along a path he hadn't noticed before.


	2. Chapter 2

**Red Voodoo**

After a little way down the path, the marsh ground grew firm, yet on either sides of the oddly purple-flowered grass path was the same muddy marsh that had made him get off his horse in the beginning, when she motioned him up with a flicker of her eyes. And riding the stalion, moving quickly like she said to, he watched as she kept up easily, leaping from branch to branch with delicate steps that barely jiggled branches. This girl was very odd, even for a witch.

The horse stopped abruptly as Sakura leaped to its side from the branch, the pinkette looking up at him, "we must walk on foot from here into the marsh. Leave the horse."

"But those creatures-"

She stopped him, "The Static Wolves will not touch it nor be able to reach it. This path is heavily covered in the Scabiosa plants, the light purple flowers. They are deadly to Static Wolves and thus avoided. Luckily it is summer, and they are in bloom." She explained simply, padding to the nearest, thick clump of light purple blossoms on lengthy tall stems with puffy white centers, plucking a handful of feathery soft petals, and pulling out 3 glass containers from her bag.

Separating the petals to a pile, she sat on the ground. She put the roots in one jar, stems and leaves in the second, and the whole, round puffy center of seeds into the last. "Waste nothing." She murmured, putting them away, and scooping up the pile of petals.

She gave Kisame a few, "rub them on your neck and put them in your pocket. They will smell them on your pulse, and leave you alone." She said simply, throwing a part of the petals over the horse, before taking a few petals, rubbing them around her collar bone. The rest, she carefully slid into a satchel around her waist. "Let us hurry; the Static wolf will be ready to finish her hunt soon." She said quickly, padding off somewhat fast into the marsh.

Kisame blinked, hurrying after with a hand ready to draw his heavy sword from his back as they left the lit path for the dim, wet marsh. She swerved sharply after a short distance, taking a long, curving arch up a drier slop, still marsh but not as damp, and the trees were growing more windblown and sparse, until they stopped all together at the edge of a treeless cliff, the sound of shouting coming from below.

He peered over the edge on one knee, making out Zetsu and Tobi, his two fellow knights, pressed against the rock wall of the cliff half way up, and one of those creatures clawing its way closer with long, hooked nails.

He had almost jumped the edge when he heard the sound of scraping, and saw that the witches' apprentice had pulled down her hood, and was staring with an intense pair of jade eyes beyond the tip of an arrow, and he made out the slightest abnormality in the air in the shape of a bow. The purple petals she had picked were mashed onto the rock arrow tip, and there was an odd, radiating glow of light pink around the length of the arrow shaft.

The two fingers that had drawn back the nearly invisible bow released, the glowing arrow pushed though the air, and a single word breathed as it first passed the front of the bow that immediately vanished upon release, "Deteriorate."

The arrow spun speedily, his eyes barely following it as it embedded a second later where the wolf had been. The fazing black body that flickered indescribably had lurched down the cliff in a heartbeat, but he made out the graze on its snout, as it crouched to the ground and let out a shrieking, gurgling howl.

Kisame felt cold ice at the 20 or so returned howls, as Zetsu and Tobi looked up in surprise. Then the shark man realized that Sakura had already pulled back up her hood on her head, and was sliding down the steep cliff on her two feet.

He followed after, jumping carefully from cleft to cleft and landing at Tobi and Zetsu's cliff moments after her. Sakura was already distributing them petals, and he arrived to hear her demand if it had touched them at all.

Zetsu nodded with his eyes still wide from the shock, and he lifted his arm, Sakura examined it, and Kisame stared at ugly, purple blotching up Zetsu's colorless white arm.

She pulled out a jar of long thin green spines, labeled with 'Stinging Needles'. She took a handful, and stabbed the long ends into his arm, and he flinched, before blinking. "I-I can't feel that at all…"

She muttered incoherently under her breath, "Tobi, look around for a low growing plant with lime green leaves." She ordered, racking her brain for the herbs that grew in rocky climate like this cliff. Lysimachia, a creeping plant, should grow here… it blooms in summer… "It might have small yellow flowers." She was so used to swamp, not rocky cliff.

The masked fighter nodded, searching around, only to pause as he realized she knew his name. And Kisame was surprised a little, but not much, because she had already said they would find Zetsu and Tobi, just not said their names.

"This is the witches' apprentice, her mentor is gone." Kisame told the confused masked Tobi, who promptly continued searching.

Tobi came scrambling up with an uprooted plant, that Sakura took and carefully picked it of its leaves, stuffing them into her mouth, and chewing them. Spitting out the paste she took a little and rubbed it over his arm, furrowing her brow as she tried to force it into the nettle stings. Nettle to draw the poison, the creeping plant to neutralize it in a poultice and draw it to the surface. It wasn't the best, but it was what she could do to keep from cutting off his arm. She stuck petals to the goop on his arm, and with some long strips of leaf from her bag she binded his snowy white, purple injury.

"Don't move your arm too much." She hissed warning, reaching into her waist pack and pulling out dried oak leaf, and taking the leaf-stripped vine of the Lysimachia to tie down the large leaves like a protective shell. "Static wolves are very dangerous, even touching their fur. Where are your horses?"

"Zetsu and Tobi forgot them at the end of the marsh." Tobi said ruefully.

"Then I will take you back to where you entered my woodland." She responded, "You're friends are being lead back by their own animals."

She turned and started down the cliff face. "You are all such fools; don't you know that the things in this forest are deadly? For instance, that bush two meters away is a special type of boxwood. It looks like a rose bush, but its pollen is poisonous- potent enough to bring down your allegedly immortal king. It was eradicated from growth by the royal family everywhere, but my mentor has kept it alive in this haven of hell. Had you taken cover from the wolf any closer to it, you'd be dead."

Heads turned to a beautiful, pink-flowering bush, wide eyes staring in shock, before they continued on to meet her at the bottom of the cliff, where she stood over the dying woof.

She shook out a few poppy seeds into her hand from a dried flower, letting them fall into the mouth of the beast, and its eyes glazed from no feeling of the pain and it whines quieted. "Its mother shall be here soon; we must get away. and to think it was her first hunt…"

"How did you know….?" Kisame asked, not sure if he was asking about the knowledge of the female wolf or of the danger Zetsu and Tobi were in.

"Kisame, deer royal knight, I know every footstep in this forest, every gust of wind, every new sprout. This is my home." She chuckled, and the 3 following men exchanged glances.

"Really? Want to elaborate?" he asked back, running his hand through his blue hair with a somewhat exasperated look.

She shrugged, almost unnoticeable with the hood up, and answered, "I could see you the moment you stepped foot into my marsh. Within the seconds of you fanning out, a pair of you started hissing and spitting like cats, one of which shouting about Jashin, the other called him Hidan, and by now I know him well. Hidan is very… annoying, per say, but now the pair are trying to force their horse back into the woods without success as it drags them to where you first entered." Well that's elaborate enough. And amusing that Hidan annoyed her, even though they have never really met.

As they entered the wooded marsh again, Zetsu glanced back at the scene they left. He starred wide-eyed at the rock where the arrow had embedded when the wolf dodged. it was fizzling into the air with an unusual green, jell like slow fire that released a red gas into the air.

A hand clamped over his face as the red mist followed them, and he drew his sword instantly until he heard the hiss of annoyance from the apprentice girl in the hood.

She released him instantly, and he spun to face her, and looked as she held up a bleeding hand with her good one for examination. Her emerald eyes glared into him, the other two knights staring in shock with hands over their mouths and noses, which confused the bi-colored night. "Go ahead, breath in the poisons of deterioration." She spat, "but do it _later_. Cover your face and let's _go_." She growled out, clamping her hand over his mouth again, and he realized there was an odd leaf there with a scent of ashes.

The red slowly drifted over them as he held the ashy scented leaf down himself, and they walked on at a quick, brisk pace and began to out run it. She held nothing to her face, but as they pressed onward she wrapped her hand with more leaf strips and chewing up some yellowish leaf over it.

Then she slowed at the flower path again "the mist won't reach the trail of the Scabiosa plants, so we are ok now." She announced, walking up the flower-laden trail and toward the horse still waiting.

As she stroked the animal's head, Kisame looked to Tobi and Zetsu. "So her master is gone, which means she is our best chance here."

"But she is obviously attached to these woods; she isn't going to come with us. **And I don't want to be cursed.**" Zetsu pointed out.

"What can Akatsuki offer to Evil Witch Lady?! Tobi very much likes Tobi's soul!" Tobi murmured worriedly.

Kisame shook his head, "she said her name is Haruno. And her master is her mother, and the alleged thousand year old Wicked Master of The Marsh is a highly wanted criminal… maybe she would agree to come if we cleanse Senju of her crimes?"

"Your plotting is very unnecessary." Sakura announced, suddenly at their side with the horse. "I know enough about why you're here, which has to do with the prince. My master left me here knowing you were coming, thus she wants me to deal with you. I will help your prince."


	3. Chapter 3

**Red Voodoo**

…

**By the way, the time era is a little weird. Its part like the Naruto-verse with some things, and part the medieval time. You get that? If you don't, leave a review and I shall explain more thoroughly.**

The first king padded back and forth in the throne room. Outside, like on day one, the storm rumbled on, fat drops pelting the window and a flash of lightning to eliminate the still empty entrance to the village.

It was now day 8, in a few moments it would be midnight, the start of day 9. Prince Itachi was no better, in fact, much, much worse. Itachi could no longer sit up, even with aid to support him. At times he would stop breathing, and need CPR. He could no longer take in liquids, let alone food. He wouldn't survive much longer.

"_I'll skin them all._" The king growled darkly with worry.

The second king stood to the side, watching his brother's restlessness. "Madara-kun, Akatsuki had to go all the way to the Forbidden swam in the Grass Nation's territory. And then catch the witch alive! Tobi is sure the Akatsuki will be back soon."

As if Tobi's words had rung perfectly true, a breathless knight burst through the doors into the throne room. "THEY ARE APROACHING!"

Tobi and Madara shot looks at each other, before they both shot to the window that overlooked the entrance to the village.

They… they were here. Madara had to pinch himself to be certain he wasn't dreaming again.

There they marched into the village, all of them on their horses, except for one. He wasn't sure, but it looked like Tobi and Zetsu, but he couldn't be certain through the rain. The biggest one was also off his horse, though leading it by pulling the rope, with an unknown person sitting to the side on it.

(So, any of you noticed there are two Tobi's yet~? It shall be explained, those of you who are wondering.)

"Send out men to take their horses to the stables for them, now." Madara barked, stalking to his throne. Yes, now that they were here, he had to admit that his brother had been correct. The Akatsuki had indeed done their task rather quickly- as expected by his greatest unit of nights. But even the minutes of them getting inside could not be spared, or wasted on moving their animals.

He waited in anticipation, drumming his fingers rapidly on the arm of the throne, his brother beside him in the equally grand chair.

When the doors opened again, in shuffled the dripping wet group over the white ivory tile. His adoptive ginger son lead the way the whole of them following in a circle around another unknown person, Kisame inside the circle as well at it's side.

"King Madara, the Ancient Demon of the swamp was not there when we arrived. Instead we bring you her apprentice, Haruno-sama." Pein announced solemnly.

Madara stared down at them, uncertain what to think aside from the fury that they hadn't actually brought back their target.

Kisame's voice came from where only was head was visible above the heads of the circling people. "She seems very powerful for an apprentice; she already technically saved me, Zetsu, and Tobi, your majesty."

Madara sighed, "Show me Haruno, then." He demanded.

The circle split, to reveal a tiny figure, completely cloaked in a brown, rugged hooded cloak. The shadow covered the face except a pair of crystal, sparkling green eyes. Next to Kisame and the other larger members of Akatsuki surrounding it, the tiny figure looked so powerless he almost called Kisame I liar for saying she had _saved them 3 times_.

But he knew very well Kisame was completely honest, and there was something about the figure that muttered to him power.

"Haruno… what is your surname?" he asked hesitantly, contemplating if this… tiny creature would be able to even help his nephew in the slightest.

"My name is just Haruno." Sakura's lie came silkily as she had told Kisame in the beginning. Well, technically she wasn't lying, her surname _was_ Haruno.

"Well then, Haruno, you are a healer, yes?!" he demanded anxiously, as Itachi's coughing came feebly and thickly from the next room, causing heads to turn.

Sakura's turned with them; the pinkette's eyes wide as the cough died into choking, then into what she could barely hear with her astounding hearing of rasping and liquid-y pants in attempts at breathing. She took a step in the direction, to be stopped by Kisame's hand grasping her shoulders and the rest of Akatsuki tensing to stop her.

She turned her head, glaring sharply and so heatedly Kisame yanked his hand away. "Your prince has no longer then a few hours. I would not delay his treatment."

The cloaked figure twisted to face the kings once more. "Yes, I am a healer, and I must treat the sickness now or Itachi shall die soon."

That was enough for him. Madara stood, "then heal my nephew, Haruno, and do it now."

"I will do what I can." Was her only response, before she turned to Kisame sharply, lifting her hand in the direction and pointing in the direction of the ganging's origin. "Take me to him."

Kisame nodded, and started toward the door to the Infirmary down a hall. Both kings followed directly behind them, followed by the rest of Akatsuki. The coughing sounded again, and Sakura immediately left Kisame's side, following the sound sharply with light footsteps like she was flying down the hall.

She opened the door, looking down the hall at the group hurrying to catch up. "No more than three may enter at a time." With that she slid into the room, closing the door. She took in the new location.

White walls, same ivory flooring, looking completely spotless. A line of metal tables against the wall and lined with random things in neat, sanitized containers and nicely organized.

A wooden box-like stand with a soft cushion was where the prince rested. A single thin blanket draped over him, with a damp towel on his forehead, beads of sweat on a sickly white face. His body had shriveled in hunger and dehydration, and even this prince had been reduced to tears that left dry streaks down his face. Blood stained his lips from his coughing.

Sakura bit her lip, tearing off her over coat, and setting it in the far corner of the room, and headed for the sink to sanitize her hands.

As she dried them, and tied a white cloth from the counter over her lower face like a mask, both the kings stepped into the room, followed by another male she didn't know that wasn't in Akatsuki.

"Keep away from him." Sakura ordered them sharply, ignoring the fact, well, they were royalty. She ran her fingers through her pink hair before tying it back, the knee-length strands in the ponytail only reaching mid thigh now.

"Our doctor is _her_?" the younger, new male demanded in a tone that made her pause.

He looked about her age. Definitely related to the kings, he was a typical Uchiha breed. An odd hair cut, which made her think of the ducks back in her swamp. "I am." She responded, leaning over Itachi's crippled, dying form.

As she pried open his mouth to peer down his throat, she heard the teen snort, "you don't look like a doc-"

"Silence, Sasuke. Haruno is not a doctor, she is a Healer." Madara snapped at him.

"A witch, as many would call me." She said, observing the puffy tongue and his sore red throat that was scarred with thick scratch-like marks.

"YOU BROUGHT A WITCH TO SAVE MY BROTHER?!"

Sakura tuned the conversation out of her head as Madara continued to scold 'Sasuke' as he was called, continuing basic examinations quickly- eyes, ears, skin, bodily warmth. She checked is blood pressure, and then listened to murky lungs to check his breathing. It was not good.

She brushed to the counter, putting down the stethoscope, and returned to his bed side. She place two fingers on the pulse of his wrist. "withdraw." She whispered quietly. Sakura slowly pulled her fingers from his wrist, and in the process she drew a small bubble of blood without an incision. She moved the bubble above her and away a little, and it stood there, floating.

The people in the room stopped arguing, looking at it in amazement, before the pink haired witch, held a hand over Itachi's chest, directly over is left lung. "Withdraw."

She pulled out a somewhat larger amount of a foul, mucus-y, blackish tar mixed with blood. Instantly Itachi started retching, and Sakura shoved the bubble to float at her side, taking both her hands to plant them on his chest and throat. A vague, green glow seeped out of her hands and onto Itachi's skin.

He soothed slowly, and Sakura took both of the bubble in each hand, turning to the metal tables. She glanced to the three, the youngest of the royalty trio looking outraged, Madara looked stunned by the floating orbs, and the third one looking nauseous.

She narrowed her eyes on the last one, "if you are uncomfortable now, you should probably leave."

"Tobi will be fine, pretty witch lady." He murmured, shaking his head.

_I thought the other guy with Zetsu was Tobi_… Sakura continued on with her work, ignoring the oddity. She took the black material in both hands after settling the blood in a sterile container. For a few moments she did not move, hearing and seeing nothing as she scanned the contents of the black liquid goop.

After about five minutes she growled lowly. "Eradicate." She muttered, and the ball of liquid fizzled into thin air, completely gone. Sakura turned to the kings and the second prince. "Uchiha is very ill. He is sick with a rare disease that is contagious to anyone in his blood type. Any staff member, other royalty, or anyone who has his blood type cannot be around him at all. Her green eyes bore into them. "Sasuke, Tobi, please leave this room, you share his blood type."

"You don't know-" Sasuke started, and the pinkette's furious green orbs turned on him.

"Do not question the medical skills that took my life to obtain." She warned. "Now leave this room, I will send word on his condition." With that she turned away from him, ignoring the infuriated look that she should interrupt him.

She started pulling item after item out of her bag.

A container of fresh ground comfrey root, for soothing his violent coughing.

Foxglove leaves that she had gotten on the way here to reduce the swelling of his lungs and stimulate heart rate and keep it from basically failing under this strain.

Stem mush of the Red Sunflower to cleanse the blood.

Berries of the Saw Palmetto to strengthen his tense and weak muscle tissue and increase his weight.

Agaric grains to slow the creation of any mucus that this black liquid was causing him to induce that was steadily filling his lungs till he would drown.

Cherrylaurel to sooth his coughs more.

Bloodroot to sooth his throat.

Butterbur for his fever.

And boiled Fireweed for pain.

She turned to Madara, the only remaining person since Sasuke had stormed away with Tobi following. "I need a pot."

Madara padded silently to the cabinet in the corner, and pulled out a large stew pot. "It's used for vomit, but it is sterile." He said, standing again at the foot of Itachi's bed as he observed her work.

Sakura filled it with water from the sink, settling in on the floor to easily see inside the tall-ish pot because she was short. She added honey extract to sooth his throat as well, before adding her ingredients to the pot.

"broil." She murmured smoothly with a long, deep breath as she brought her hands together. The closer they got together, the hotter the water grew, and she held her breath for a long 2 minutes with her epic-witch-healer-magic-skills, before slowly separating her tiny hands as she let out her breath, and the water drew from the rapid boil to a lukewarm.

Madara watched with mild interest as the pinkette did her work, pouring the warm liquid in small amounts one at a time down Itachi's throat, massaging it to get him to swallow despite the unconscious man's constricted throat.

He watched curiously as she threw the blanket off him, and running the cloth with icy water from the faucet. She replaced it, before gingerly pulling off the Uchiha male's shirt, and setting it on top of the blanket on the floor. He watched as she lifted an orb of the herb-succulent warm water with her hands without touching it, settling it over Itachi's chest.

"Madara-san, please hold his shoulders." She warned him, and the ravenette hesitantly stood to her right, and prepared if Itachi sat up.

The clear liquid glowed light green with her hands, and as she slowly pushed the liquid under his skin Itachi jolted, only held in place by Madara as the tense-faced man held in his shouts.

Then, she pulled the bubble up, and he was shocked to see the massive amount of the black sludge that came out of his chest, while distributing the healing tonic to each of the cells in the chest to prompt healing.

As the bubble left Itachi's chest, now only a complete mass of black sludge, Sakura stepped back, and Madara copied as Itachi panted heavily, now wide awake. The fact Itachi was sitting up AND awake was a miracle to Madara.

The pinkette focused on the orb of the poisonous substance about the size of a basket ball, compared to the golf balls of blood and bloody-ick she had removed earlier. Sakura as well was panting heavily, a light sheen of sweat coating her at the rapid removal, and she dumped it into the pot.

"Itachi Uchiha, Madara Uchiha. The sickness has no true name, but one of the most common names is called Black Blood Poisoning. It takes over cells in particular organs where it uses the cell to convert blood into its energy. The leftover builds up as the black substance. The sickness found its way to your lungs, where it was steadily drowning you." She said it quickly in a single breath, but luckily most Uchihas are very smart, so Madara caught it while still stunned Itachi picked up a good bit as to understand he was very sick.

"Is he cured?" Madara demanded sharply.

Sakura shook her head. "No. I simply removed the excess so that Itachi can breathe properly, with heavy amounts of Agaric grains to slow the progression of the disease to other cells and organs. The cells are still occupied by the Black Blood Poising, and to cleanse your cells is a long and very painful process."

Madara looked extremely unhappy, and Itachi glanced up, "will it grow worse?"

Sakura nodded, "more cells will be taken over as the virus reproduces, so with your lungs your kidneys, you're heart, your brain, any part of your body that had any use of blood will fill with the poisoned blood waste. Plus you have very low blood pressure, because the virus feeds off your blood. You will either die of blood loss, or some other way of death from the Black Blood substance."

The pinkette sighed, grinding down Poppy Seed and Chamomile into some water and heated it. "Drink, Itachi, you need to rest. You can breathe easy, and my mixtures will sooth the pain. So drink this and sleep. Madara, be certain not to cover him up. His body is already overheating rapidly; we don't need to smother him. I'd even recommend him just sleeping in shorts instead of those thick pants."

Itachi took the cup after she added a little more Honey and Lavender to sweeten the taste and sooth the throat more. With a deep drink, Sakura gently rested him down onto the bed, before icing the towel again and resting it on his forehead, earning a breath of comfort as proof of how hot he was.

With that, they left him to sleep.


	4. Announcement! (not part of story)

**announcement to all readers from Neko-sama**

Syrian Arab Revar  
Mauritius  
Bulgaria  
Kuwait  
Bosnia and Herzegovina

you see those places i listed? those are all places i have NEVER EVEN HEARD OF.

yet somehow, i have at least 2 readers following me from those places.

my precious babies i love you all so very much. after 2 months of inactivity you still comment within the first 10 minutes of a story TWELVE TIMES.

there are some people i would like to personally promote.

you people have praised the crummy song lyrics i made up in some of them, even one of my precious extra cup-cake-y followers sang it and put it on youtube,

_Reira Honjo._

you people give me and the Rebel Queens the comments of a lifetime, hilarious and praising and detailed and perfect.

_MinaBlahBlahBlahAnimeFan_ for your hilarity and constant reviews.

_Babybroant_ for being a dedicated reader.

_Guest: Connie Davis_ for being so attached to my stories.

_Akatsukilover15_ for being a complete cookie for taking on my poor orphaned story 'Yours Truely'.

_KarrineWinchester_ for your frequent reviews, i can count on your appearance.

_asredwer_ fore your honesty and help in spotting my mishaps

_moonloonstar _for your detailed reviewing in 'speechless' and other, i love to read those longer reviews so much!

i love you all, as well as all my others who take the time to AT LEAST type 'write soon' or 'love it'. it makes my day when every two weeks i get to come and see your beautiful words and i read them ALL. i even respond once in a while, so if you ask a question just stick it in a review and it SHALL be answered!

and remember how much i love you ALL!


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